- Member since
May 2003
- From: Greenville, NC
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Posted by jtilley
on Monday, April 19, 2004 11:54 AM
I have - and like very much - a 30-year-old Unimat SL, which can be converted from a lathe to a drill press. On the hunch that it's going to give up the ghost before much longer I've been watching the catalogs and thinking of buying a more modern replacement. The big machine sold by MicoMart looks good (automatic feed, etc.), but is huge and pretty expensive. ModelExpo and Lee Valley sell a lathe made in the USA by a company called Taig; it's small, supported by a wide range of accessories, and reasonably priced, but it looks to me like it might be a little weak for metal work. If I were to buy a lathe today it would probably be a Sherline. That firm has been around for a long time, has a fine reputation, and makes about every conceivable accessory. Sherline lathes aren't cheap, but I've never heard of anybody being seriously disastisfied with one.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.
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